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Godard's Films
Topic Started: Sep 12 2007, 06:50 PM (341 Views)
Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
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I put a post in Matinee Memories about The Belcourt Theater in Nashville showing this director's films every weekend in Sept. The films are shown at noon on Sat and Sun. This past weekend was BREATHLESS but I didn't find out about the series until Sat afternoon and Sun I already had golfing plans. Well Sun afternoon I was channel surfing and lo and behold, BREATHLESS was on IFC. I watched it, my first Godard film, and I enjoyed it. It certainly wasn't the big screen but it was enjoyable all the same. My wife watched it with me and used one word to describe it. The word is a synonym for dung or crap or feces. Yep, I think that last synonym gives a good hint of the word.

I saw Richard Gere's BREATHLESS at the theater when it came out so I had an idea about the story and the ending. Godard's filming, along with whomever did the editing, was unique. There's a scene where Jean-Paul Belmondo is driving a car as Jean Seberg is sitting in the passenger seat and it appears to be filmed from the back seat. Seberg speaks about 5 lines of dialog and with each line the film is edited into the next line as the scenery outside the car windows change. Good feces if you ask me.

This weekend WEEKEND is showing and I want to see it on the big screen. I would hate to think I didn't see this at the movies if I see it at a later date on TV and enjoy it.

Do any balconeer have an opinion on Weekend or any other Godard films for that matter?
It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong."
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panzer the great & terrible
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Sure. First off, hate to tell you WEEKEND's not my favorite. It's long, slow and full of hatred for the middle class (which Godard is one of whether he likes it or not).

Godard's great when he makes movies about criminals, artists and other outsiders (BREATHLESS, MY LIFE TO LIVE, A WOMAN IS A WOMAN, MASCULIN/FEMININ, CONTEMPT, PIERROT LE FOU and, yup, BAND OF OUTSIDERS), but when he puts on his New Left suit he can look pretty silly (LES CARABINIERS, LE PETIT SOLDAT, ALPHAVILLE, WEEKEND, FAR FROM VIETNAM, TOUT VA BIEN, LA CHINOISE). He also made the most Godawful movie I ever saw -- about the Stones cutting "Sympathy for the Devil." Sounds cool, huh? Well it ain't!
The real sleeper is UNE FEMME MARIEE, which is missing in action for some reason. It's about a married woman having an affair, and she's played by Masha Meril, a major little cat-eyed hottie who takes her clothes off with gratifying frequency. Loved that one, but it never gets revived and hasn't come out in any video format as far as I know. Maybe I'll see if it's on Amazon France or EBay.

But it sounds like the bug has bit you, stony, so I will say this. Even at his most maddening, Godard makes movies that are almost always fun to watch (except the Stones one), and WEEKEND has some amazing feces in it, especially a long traveling shot that must have taken a couple of days to set up. On the other hand there's an excruciatingly slow 360 degree pan that reveals absolutely nothing. Just don't take the wife. If she hated BREATHLESS she'll loathe Weekend.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
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Thanks Paul. I don't think the wife would go, even at gunpoint!

I now see a white lie I told. I saw SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIlL at some point in the 70s. Maybe the film should've been named after one of the Stones' greatest hits albums:SUCKING IN THE 70s??? I remember scenes of rants were shown in between scenes of the Stones recording SYMPATHY. I vaguely remember the rants. I didn't like the movie either but I would go see it at a theater again to see how I cared for it now after 30 plus years.

Sunday is a lazy day at Stony Ranch so there is a high possibility of me seeing the last 3 films in this series at the theater. I'll post about which ones I see.

EVERYBODY STAY SEATED!!!
It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong."
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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
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I saw CONTEMPT Sunday and enjoyed it. Fritz Lang, playing himself, is directing Homer's The Odyssey and his producer is played by Jack Palance. Palance is unhappy with Lang's film and brings in Paul, a playwright, to liven up the film. Paul is married to Bridget Bardot and Palance has an infatuation for her before he even sees her.

This film, to me, is about the odyssey of Paul and Bardot's marriage or maybe just Paul or maybe the odyssey of behind-the-scenes filmaking. Hell, I'll pick all 3 scenarios, but there's probably more than that.

Like WEEKEND, I find myself looking at camera work and such, whilst missing some of the subtitles. Oh yeah, same as BREATHLESS!

In one scene, Bardot is filmed from the front and the only light is the sunlight behind her, lighting only her hair as she speaks her lines with her face shadowed.

The begining of the film had a naked Paul and Bardot in bed as she asks him if he can see various parts of her body in the mirrorand if he likes them. The scene starts out with a red tint or maybe a red lens then goes to a natural look then to a blue tint/lens. Right before the end of the film, Paul walks alone past 2 empty director's chairs, one red and the other blue. What does it mean??? Does the scene represent the odysseys of Palance and Bardot?? This film has alot going on and of course I'll need to see it again!!

The best odyssey of course, was me driving 23 miles, sitting my ass in a darkened theater with Coke, buttered popcorn and chocolate covered almonds and enjoying this film!!
It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong."
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Laughing Gravy
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Yes, one comes away from Breathless out of breath about all the quick cuts, which I'm told came about because the film was too long and Godard didn't want to cut any scenes, so he simply went in and cut "dead air" time between dialog and stuff like that.

Of course, the film is also a tribute to B&W American postwar films, with Belmondo trying his best to channel Bogart. Jean Seberg? Man, does the camera love "St. Joan" or what?!? The look on her face when the poet tells her his ambition is to "become immortal, and then die" is amazing.

I enjoyed this one a lot, and as soon as it was over I wanted to watch it again, but instead immersed myself in the bonus material in the Criterion set; it's mammoth, some of the nicest extras Criterion ever gave us. This is surely a finalist for Best DVD of the year.

All that said, the film engrossed me because of its style, not because of its story, which I see only as an excuse for its style. And yeah, I know Truffaut wrote the story. I think maybe I just wanted a bit more substance.

That said, great movie.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
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I liked this too the first time I saw it a few months ago. I didn't know the editting was forced though, that's one of the things I liked most about this film. Of the 3 Godard films I've seen, I like CONTEMPT the best.
It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong."
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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
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I watched Tout Va Bien the other day. I liked it. It's the story of a couple going to interview the "head" of a food manufacturer. The head is held hostage in his office by a rebellious group, an offshoot of the unionized workforce. The workforce was about to strike but this mess came along. The couple, Jane Fonda and her husband, are let into the office and are also held hostage. This film had a co-director, I don't remember his name and I'm not gonna look it up! Having seen a few Godard films, I can say this film has a different style about it and different editting techniques. The editting, unlike Breathless, is an overlapping style. There is a two-story set built that is quite unique. It is like looking at the Hollywood Squares from behind, except 2 instead of 3 tiered. There are alot of head and shoulder scenes with actors spouting of wages and work conditions. There's a bit of male and female relationship issues thrown in as Godard likes to do in the films I've seen.

This film was shot on the LEFT WING of an aeroplane ;)
It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong."
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Inspector Carr
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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
Sep 26 2007, 05:23 PM
The best odyssey of course, was me driving 23 miles, sitting my ass in a darkened theater with Coke, buttered popcorn and chocolate covered almonds and enjoying this film!!

My Crystal ball foresees........ah yes sequel in the works...Breathless part deux B)
"Life is a Crapshoot however you need a pair of dice to participate"
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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
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I didn't lose any weight with THAT diet!!!
It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong."
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panzer the great & terrible
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Stony, Contempt is my favorite of all the Godards I've seen, but look out for Masculin-Feminin and Une Femme Marriee. Bande a Part is fun too.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
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Thanks Paul. I check 'em out on cable when I can.

Kurosawa (I hope that's spelled correctly!) films are at The Belcourt in January on weekends. Anyone have an opinion to share?
It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong."
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